1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fluid oscillators capable of producing periodic pulsations in a fluid and, in particular, to a pulsating device adapted to be used with a dental syringe.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Fluid oscillators have been developed which utilize fluid dynamic effects such as stream interaction and boundary layer control to provide a pulsating flow of fluid without any moving parts. In such practices, these devices generally must be constructed with fairly close tolerances in order to achieve satisfactory results, and the cost of such devices is generally quite high.
Still other oral hygiene appliances have been provided which deliver an intermittently pulse stream of water for dislodging foreign matter from the teeth and gum tissues and for the purpose of massaging gum tissue. All the current commercial oral hygiene units of this type operate in substantially the same manner. A liquid, usually water, is fed into an inlet chamber of a liquid pump from a liquid reservoir. The liquid pump is generally the reciprocating type which draws a quantity of liquid from the inlet chamber into the pump chamber on each intake stroke, and on each exhaust stroke delivers a quantity of liquid directly into a delivery tube which is connected to a removable jet nozzle. A separate discharge nozzle is provided for each family member who would use the appliance. These commercially available units usually further include a pulse intensity control that feeds back a portion of the pump liquid to the inlet chamber in order to reduce the pressure or force of the liquid discharged at the discharge end of the discharge nozzle. However, problems have been encountered with maintenance and repair of the pulsating unit since the unit is generally incorporated into the body of the appliance or syringe which is inaccessible for such purposes.
Previous attempts at providing suitable pulsating units or devices are shown in the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,499,440; 3,590,813 and 3,810,465. Although these prior devices have met with some success, difficulties have been encountered which are mentioned above.
Therefore, a long standing need has existed to provide a novel pulsating device which may be readily adapted for use with a variety of dental syringes for the purpose of pulsing the output stream of the syringe for various purposes including the irrigation, cleansing or massaging of biological tissue.